TTHS | Parents for Healthy Schools

Knowledge Check

You are a member of the School Health Council for Jefferson School. The School Health Council meets monthly to discuss increasing parent engagement at Jefferson School to create a healthy school environment in the areas of:

School nutrition environment and services
Physical education and physical activity
Managing chronic health conditions in schools

The School Health Council recently completed the CDC School Health Index to identify strengths and weaknesses in Jefferson School's current policies and practices and to identify where improvements can be made to maximize parent engagement. In today's meeting, the School Health Council plans to review the parent engagement framework to develop plans to connect, engage, and sustain parent engagement.

Read the following statements to select the most appropriate response.

School Health Council members understand research shows that parent engagement makes it more likely that children and adolescents will avoid unhealthy behaviors and has a correlation to:

Better student behavior

Higher academic achievement

Enhanced social skills

All of the above

During today's meeting, the School Health Council brainstormed ideas on how to connect with parents by creating an environment that welcomes and encourages parents to participate in school activities for nutrition, physical activity, and chronic health conditions. The list of ideas included:

Providing statistics on attendance, grade averages, and disciplinary actions at Jefferson School.

Requiring parent commitment to participate in school activities for nutrition, physical activity, and chronic health conditions.

Ensuring Jefferson School has clearly written vision and mission statements that include language that supports parent participation in school activities and sharing of expertise.

Making unannounced visits to parents in their home environments to talk about the school's need for volunteers.

Next, the School Health Council brainstormed opportunities for parents to engage in school health activities, based on six types of involvement that schools can use. Today's focus was on providing parenting support, supporting learning at home, and collaborating with the community. The list of ideas included:

Providing classes and workshops to build parents' leadership, decision making, and parenting skills; engaging parents in homework assignments or other health activities; coordinating with community organizations to make it easier for parents to obtain information.

Sending communications to parents; inviting parents to volunteer in school activities; including parents in advocacy activities.

Increasing communication channels between parents and teachers, administrators, counselors, and other staff.

Encouraging parents to join the PTO or PTA, school health council or team, or school committees.

Using the Ideas for Parents, the School Health Council focused on ways to engage parents in Jefferson School's nutrition environment and services. The Council plans to share these ideas at the next meeting with parents to encourage:

Serving as monitors or chaperones on class field trips.

Enrolling their children in the school meals program.

Ensuring appropriate vaccination status.

All of the above

Using the Ideas for Parents, the School Health Council focused on ways to engage parents in physical education and physical activity at Jefferson School. The Council plans to share these ideas at the next meeting with parents to encourage:

Asking about exercises and physical activities to do at home with their children.

Volunteering their time to help with physical education, recess, and classroom physical activity.

Participating on the team or committee for comprehensive school physical activity programs.

All of the above

Using the Ideas for Parents, the School Health Council focused on ways to engage parents in managing chronic health conditions in schools. The Council plans to share these ideas at the next meeting with parents to encourage:

Selection of healthy food and beverage choices during the school day and during school events.

Participation in the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day for their children.

Awareness of available school health services and how such services can benefit their children.

None of the above

Thinking ahead, Council members know that keeping parents engaged may be difficult as their children grow into adolescence. The School Health Council identified common challenges to sustain parent engagement so they could make plans to overcome these challenges. The list included: